Horse Racer
by Sugerbliss
Summary: A suspicious act kills countless riders, Ichigo is blamed for the act and so his family pays the price. Troubled with guilt and the loss of his family, old friends become family as a new friend strikes to become a lover. Story is better than the summary; it has a slight angst and abuse, but nothing too much...
1. Past

_Horses gallop wildly across the path like thunder crashing in the sky; they whined and howled like the wind on a stormy night. Camera's flashed like lightning and like rain the crowed awed and shouted with glee as the Jockeys raced for the finish line._

_"And Zangetsu takes the lead followed by Senbonzakura, no wait Senbonzakura is now in the lead followed by Katen Kyōkotsu!" called out the host over the intercom._

_Dust and dark clouds of smoke rose from the ground as the horses galloped making them look like angry clouds. A woman of average height with fair skin and long, light, wavy brown hair down to her back rode on a radiant black horse with brown highlights, a white halo around the chest and black tattered like white cuffs. It was a beautiful Arabian horse with ragged black hair._

_"Come Zangetsu... Run.. Run!" Said the rider causing the horse to whine as it picked up it's pace._

_"Zangetsu is picking up it's pace and Senbonzakura is slowly falling back!" The host cried out in excitement. "Ladies and gentleman, this is going to be close!"_

_Senbonzakura was a pure bread dark brown Arabian horse with a silver ribbon and the most beautiful blue eyes; it's owner had shoulder length black hair with bluish-purple eyes. A single kenseiken blew in the wind as they raced; baring a smile on his face, he raced the woman at high speeds._

_The finish line was near and the other racers were struggling to pick up speed; __Katen Kyōkotsu was a dark quarter horse with strangely turquoise eyes and curly purple hair her rider had matching eyes, glasses and black long braid. They were catching up pretty quickly making the female rider grin sharply._  


___The three horses galloped in simultaneously in a row, the finish line drawing closer and closer. More dust began to toss in the air as the horses stormed dangerously through the track. Fans screamed people cried out and the host was going crazy with her was in front of who._

___Masaki Kurosaki smiled at her adversary's, Sōjun Kuchiki caught her gaze and let his eyes narrow while Lisa Yadōmaru did her best to keep focus on the track. Lifting her body up to gain more speed, Zangetsu began to get in front of the other two horses.**  
**_

___The crowed went wild as the woman began to take the lead, her almond eyes glistening as her scarf danced like angelic wings; she looked as though she was riding a Pegasus instead of a horse._

___A sudden scream quickly caught her attention as a small figure fell onto the tracks, bright sunset hair and big glistening chocolate eyes stared at her from the race track floor. Tear wielded in the boy's eyes as he gripped his arm from the fall he had experienced._

___"M-mommy...?" he whispered causing the woman to almost instinctively turn her horse._

___Zangetsu whined loudly as he was accidentally turned into Senbonzakura way causing the horse to crashed into it's side; the impact was like slamming two bricks into each other causing Masaki to be thrown over towards the other riders while ________Sōjun was shot off and crashing onto the other side of the track._

_______ Lisa squealed loudly as Sōjun fell right in front of her horse; pulling her horse instinctively to prevent herself from killing him, Katen not only smashed ____Sōjun's face in with her powerful stomps but also flipped over crushing the woman in a bellowing cry as she fell on her back._

___________Masaki's eyes widened as she witnessed her adversaries and closest friends get killed almost instantly; scrambling to her feet, blood dripped down her head as another horse stepped and snapped her leg as it also flipped over with yet another Jockey._

___________The woman screamed as a____________ll of a sudden one after another each of the horses came crashing down causing the crowed to shriek as family members and friends get crushed by the massive beasts. ____________Fearful chocolate eyes stare warily at the whole scene unfold at once in front of him, blood covered the floor and shrieks filled the air._

_______________Sōjun's face had a gap in it as his body twitched without him breathing; Lisa was still screaming from under her horse, her bones making abnormal cracking sounds as her horse strives to stand up. Masaki despite being broken still managed to pull herself out from under the mass creature and hurdling towards her son._

_______________The boy seemed petrified as he just stood there watching an angry horse as black as night with radiant blood red eyes storming towards him; the owner had no control what so ever over the horse, however as soon as it was a foot near the boy the rider pulled the horse with all his might making it stand on it's back legs._

_______________It shrieked like thunder and the child screamed as it came smashing down with revenge; inches before the kid was hit, Masaki pushed her one and only son out of the way getting hit point blank by the horses fierce force. _

_______________"MOM!" The child shrieked in a piercing cry._

* * *

_ "News Flash: Nine year old kid kills seven riders and eleven horses. Several of the survivors are wounded severely and one of them blind..." said a paper boy as he passes out a couple of news papers. " Cornelius Jaegerjaquez wins the Jockey championship!" the kid continued. _

_Floods of people form an angry mod around a small house, rocks are thrown, windows are broken and even some evil people threw in some explosives. __The people in the house were scared to death; Isshin held onto his three children protectively as he dialed 9-1-1. There was no answer as the telephone lines were now cut. _

_"Shit..." he cursed from beneath his breath as he kept his children close._

_"Daddy, whats happening?" asked on of his darling daughters with dark hair like his._

_"Don't worry everything is going to be ok, daddy is here!" he said moving back with them into a corner._

_Another explosion caused the children to scream._

_"Daddy I'm scared." cried the other little girl as she held on tightly; her hair was more like her mothers._

_"I know baby, I know..." he said trying his best to think of a way out._

_"D-daddy...?" asked the orange haired boy startling his father a bit._

_His son had his mothers face, but exotic orange hair; his wrist was wrapped up due to his fall and he was pointing at something._

_"Why is there smoke in the house?" he asked._

_Isshin paused as smoke began to fill the kitchen, another explosive crashed through the window and Isshin stared in shock._

_"Get down!" he screamed as the explosive automatically went off with a crashing explosive..._

* * *

**Eight years later...**

A bullets shot and the horses were off again, a man with exotic messy blue hair stared in annoyance as the young horse racers went all out racing each other. He seemed rather irritated as he stretched out.

"You don't seem too interested Grimmjow." said a cocky voice from behind.

The blunet known as Grimmjow looked back at the strangely pink haired man before sighing as he looked back in front.

"This place is boring as hell..." he grunted unamused by the whole situation.

The pink haired man chuckled as his whisky colored eyes stared back into Grimmjow's saphire like eyes.

"Well I know somethin that might as well cheer you up." he responded waving a pair of tickets in front of Grimmjow with an amused grin.

The blunet watched him wave the tickets and sighed as he took them; reading the label, he slightly smirked.

"You got tickets to a rodeo?" he asked.

"Yup and to the best one yet, I herd that Sosuke Aizen was going to be the main host." The man said in amusement.

"Great..." the blunet rolled his eyes as he sounded quite unamused again.

"And you should both be very humble about it... Grimmjow, Szayel!" called another voice from behind.

The two looked back and Tousen walked over seeming quite serious.

"The rodeo is tomorrow, however the guest of honor is still on the road. You two being one of our most skilled horse riders are going to be accompanying the other espadas on a quest to capture him." Tousen directed.

Szayel eye's widened in shock for a brief moment.

"Oh so does that means that my calculations work and we found him?" he asked.

Tousen only nodded in response.

"This is B-S..." Grimmjow stated. "This demon should have been dead a long time ago and besides this thing is only a rumor."

"Ah, but that's what they want you to believe, when in reality it is a legend..." Szayel corrected him as Tousen cleared his throat.

"You'll make your appearance in an hour so don't be late." Tousen said strictly as he turned to walk away.

Tousen was now blind, but he used to be a great rider; training students to be the best was what he loved now ever since he lost his horse. Walking nearby the stables a bunch of young kids were getting off there saddles.

"Hitsugaya, Abarai, Kuchiki, Kira and Hinamori... good work out there, Histugaya you most of all have been the most outstanding with your horse." he complimented causing the white haired boy to nod weakly.

"Thank you sir..." the albino known as Toshiro Hitsugaya responded.

"Today all of you will be joining the higher league on a quest, you will watch and witness one of our finest men and women ride and as well catch a glimpse of the prize for tomorrows rodeo."

The group cheered joyfully, minus the bite size albino whom seemed more occupied in watching his own precious horse.

"Now, I would like all of you to go get prepared..." he said and then paused. "Where's our stable boy?" he asked.

"Oh well Hanatarou just had an accident last week, apparently he isn't going to come by till another month or so." the young girl known as Rukia Kuchiki said slightly ashamed.

"I heard that Ichimaru was having an interview right now..." Kira commented and Tousen crossed his arms.

"How interesting... Oh well, hopefully this fool would be better than the last." he commented as he turned to leave.

* * *

"Oh I see... So you live with Kūgo Ginjō huh?" asked Gin Ichimaru as he scanned up and down the job application.

"I do..." responded a soft yet melancholic voice.

Turquoise eyes slowly peaked open to take full view of the exotic ginger that stood before him.

"Kurosaki Ichigo... it's been almost eight years since I've heard that name. You know that this job could get you in particularly killed, right? I don't believe the other riders or fans would want to see you near horses." The man said coldly.

"I know, but I need the job; I can't keep doing dishes or bar tending for a living..." the teen responded.

"So you think that serving in the stables may somehow redeem your sins?" the man asked reading the teen like an open book.

The teen glared darkly as he asked this and the man chuckled.

"I love your enthusiasm... You got the job, however keep it in mind that it doesn't mean you are forgiven..." he said shaking the boy's hand.

Glancing at the floor, the boy snatched his hand back; he seemed to be very feisty which only intrigued the silver haired man's interest even more.

"Why don't you start by cleaning up after the crew, there's a little event going on and so everyone is leaving early and seeing as though tomorrows Rodeo day you got the chance to either work for extra pay or take the day off with a free day no pay." Gin said coldly and yet as if everything was just jolly.

"I don't attend Rodeos, I will be working..." Ichigo said before he stood up and turned to leave.

* * *

Annoyed blue eyes stared out into the wide open filled of wild horses, there was nothing abnormal about the herd they were all pretty normal colors and all doing what horses did best. There were big one's small one's and all wild, not one was tamed; this field was a protected area of Japan and yet here they were looking for the white demon: Shiro I Akuma.

Grunting a bit to himself, the blunet didn't even know if this thing had actually existed; rumors say that it looked like some sort of unicorn, how ever when it ran it was as if it could fly like a Pegasus.

There was only one horse that could run like that; Zangetsu was considered the most radiant horse in the whole world; Grimmjow saw it personally before when he was a child, when he galloped he looked like he was actually flying as if invisible wings gave him speed.

"Day dreaming?" asked Szayel.

The blunet slightly jumped and looked back at Szayel annoyedly.

"Don't do that shit!" he yelled causing his own horse to grunt.

Looking back down at Pantera, he slightly smirked in amusement; Pantera is a pure bread Arabian horse and is about eight years old, he looked black as night with cyan blue eyes, white feet, raven hair and tail.

He was the colt of Kishire his fathers Champion horse and Suzumebachi the third fastest horse in all of Japan. The Shihōin horse received the title of the fastest horse, second was Senbonzakura and now seeming as though no other horse is around, Suzumebachi is now the fastest.

Pantera slightly whined and Grimmjow held back his reins.

"Woah, steady now..." he said wondering what could have spooked him out.

Szayel also pulled Fornicarás's reins as well as she was also a bit uneasy, Szayel unlike most of them did steeple chasing and so Fornicarás was more of a jumper than a runner. She was a beautiful silver horse with bluish grey hair, she was also a pure bread Arabian horse however she was only five years old.**  
**

"Every time Pantera misbehaves Fornicarás has to do the same..." Szayel complained looking back at Grimmjow slightly annoyed.

Grimmjow chuckled knowing that Fornicarás had a thing for Pantera; it was because of this that Szayel would always tease him for his own horses misbehavior.

"I'm glad we're all getting along here..." said a cold, but callous voice.

The two turned to see the one and only Sosuke Aizen, the richest man in all Japan and the best gambler as well. He was sitting on his well known Kyōka Suigetsu, the most beautiful known horse alive. It really looked as though it was bathed in gold, it looked so silky and shiny that it made some lady's legs look shameful.

It's white wavy hair danced in the wind as a few other horses joined in with Aizen. Grimmjow hated the guy, he and his father always worked together and it made him nervous. Ever since his father won the championship, he'd been pushing Grimmjow to race.

Aizen's elite was called the espadas; he used to race for the soul reapers, but he betrayed them and took a few of their men down with him. The soul reapers were still good, but not as good seeing as though most of there best members either left or died. There were others, but besides the soul reapers they weren't really much of a challenge.

"So far there's no sign of him..." Said Ichimaru with disappointment as he watched the night sky descend.

"He'll show up alright... and this time, we'll be ready." Aizen responded.

All of the espada members were now present, each and every one of them had a number on them; Grimmjow holding number six while his friend was lucky number eight. The top four were the most dangerous and as well in the most advanced races, however they all seemed like complex weirdos to Grimmjow.

Starrk, Barragan, Halibel, Ulquiorra, Nnoitra, Grimmjow, Zammari, Szayel, Aaroniero and Yammy were the top ten, Luppi was number eleven and Aizen was hoping to train Toshiro into number twelve. Barragan was finally retiring after the rodeo, which meant that some serious changes would be hapening.

The top ten were most of their parents or family members, but Barragan was the only original with no relatives or personal friends to hand over the reins. He was also one of the survivors of the tragedy alongside Grimmjows father.

"I don't understand what's so good about this horse that we had to invade private property..." Kuchiki commented sadly causing Ichimaru to smile as a thick fog slowly descended in the moonlight.

"How interesting, so you haven't herd the rumors..?" Gin asked in amusement. "Shiro I Akuma is known as the white devil, he is said to be as fast as lightning and as wild as a beast. It is also said to be one of the most radiant horses looking more so like some fairy tail like horse, with a dangerous attitude." he began.

"Rumor has it that this stallion is the alpha of all the wild horses in the world and that he is so ferocious that he cannot be tamed. Interesting enough this horse only appears during a full moon almost every spring; no one knows what it's looking for, however whom ever seems to cross his way normally are trampled and killed instantly." The man stated bluntly.

"Which mean's newbies should stay in the back and stay on your horses, no falling off cause we're not sure what this thing is capable of." Gin continued causing a few of the newbies to look very uncomfortable and Grimmjow rolled his eyes.

"Sounds like a load of crap..." he said when all of a sudden, the horses all began to whine loudly as they slightly panicked. Grimmjow looked a bit suspicious as Aizen slightly chuckled.

"Looks like our guest has finally arrived." Aizen said calmly.

The herd of horses all suddenly began to pick up their paces as they began to run as a group the other way as the crews own horses began to wail as a few even attempted to run off.

"Keep calm." Aizen directed as even his own horse seemed a tad uneasy.

A loud and echoing shriek was bellowed from the mist, it was loud and strangely watery like unlike any other horse. Gin frowned at the sound and then smirked as he looked back at the others.

"Sure sounds like a demon..." he commented.

"Espadas ready." Aizen called out. "We're going to corner it exactly how we practiced..."

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed as it was difficult to see; he himself had caught about twenty wild horses before and so he wasn't really afraid, but this horse was something else. It didn't even sound like a horse.

Keeping calm, the group could see and hear something coming their way at tops speed; it sounded like thunder and before they knew it, it was right in front of them. Horses cried and a few of the newbies screamed as the frightening beast bulldozer it's way past them and even knocking a few horses down. It was indeed very strong and yet Grimmjow couldn't really get a good look at it.

"Surround him!" Aizen commanded now on the floor after his horse had been knocked down.

The espadas were off and Grimmjow could feel the excitement brewing up deep inside his gut; all ten of them were trying to catch up to this horse and yet it was so damn fast that it was as if they were chasing a sly fox instead.

The horse, suddenly turned it's head and turned around almost as if it was aware of what we were trying to do. Charging head on at all of us, we all pulled our horses out of it's way.

"This horse is insane!" Yammy our Bronc riding champ called out.

"That's the fun of it!" Szayel said just as amused as Grimmjow was.

The two switch gazes before pulling their horses simultaneously.

"Nnoitra, take the other end." Grimmjow called out as they made a row charging head on against the white demon.

The wild stallion looked back and almost instantly took the challenge, running at full speed ahead Gin's eyes opened in shock.

"What do they think their doing?" Gin asked knowing that Grimmjows and Nnoitras horse would be fine, but szayel's horse being in the middle would only get the other two horses killed.

Aizen only smiled as his eyes closed.

"Ha!" Grimmjow cackled as he pulled out his rope, Nnoitra also laughed in pure amusement as he pulled out his own as well.

Szayel on the other hand had no rope as he galloped closer and closer; his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he saw the crazy beast inching closer and closer.

"Now!" Called out Grimmjow.

Within seconds, Szayel's horse made the most impressive leap up and over the savage beast; two ropes quickly wrapped around the beasts neck and with one hard pull, both Grimmjow and Nnoitra were tugged off their own horses.

Reaching the other side with ease, Szayel gasped as he saw both horses without their riders.

"Oh dear..." muttered the pink haired rider as he looked back.

The white demon seemed to have been enjoying himself as it ran with the two through the sharp grass around the hard rocks and dragging them around the dirt. The two boy's were screaming, but they both refused to let go.

Having had enough of this game, Halibel suddenly slammed Tiburon one of the most biggest horses into the rabid-horse knocking it into Los lobos; Starrk horse. Two more ropes went around it and yet instead becoming submissive, the horse became even more hostile as it backed up and began to pull both horses.

Halibel and Starrk both grunted as their horses tried to hold their ground; the beast was not that big and yet it was carrying over 2200 lbs, two horses and four people another rope went around the neck and Sciffer pulled forward in order to pull it towards the truck.

Yellow eyes glowed from the mist of the darkness and with a sudden stand on it's back legs, the three horses were dropped to their knees. Aizen frowned at this, if they didn't do something soon, the beast would in fact harm his racers.

"Get the sedatives." Aizen directed and causing Gin to take out his gun.

"Of course." he responded taking aim.

Grimmjow and Nnoitra both tried to get to their feet, but a sudden kick to the face sent Nnoitra to the side screaming. Grimmjow stared in disbelief before finally releasing the rope to go for Nnoitra's aid.

The wild horse noticed this far too quickly and was about to slam full force into Grimmjow when Pantera slammed his own body into him knocking the other horse down. Shiro fell and actually rolled back onto it's feet with ease pulling the other three ropes down with it and breaking free.

Yammy en-caged the horse from behind with his big Percheron, he stood at 19.2hh and weighed 3300 pounds which was three times the weight of an Arabian horse and 5. hh taler as well. Szayel came from the other side and so did nine and seven from the opposite sides.

Surrounding the horse like lions to a pray, the horse slammed it's head back and actually budged Yammy's horse; Yammy himself was 7'6'' and yet he weighed 667 lbs and yet the white demon with little effort was capable of slamming 3967 lbs with almost little effort.

The riders all gasped as they tried to keep it closed in and yet that horse was becoming more and more hostile and it began to slam it's body around. A gun shot went off and the horse whined a watering cry as it fought even harder. Gin frowned as he shot two more sedatives at the horse, giving it a good over dose to calm it down.

"My-my he is a dangerous one... he's more like a bull than a horse in my own opinion." Gin commented as the horse began to wobble and fall down towards it's knees.

Szayel almost instantly got off his horse and ran with Grimmjow towards Nnoitra whom was holding his face in pain.

"Aizen-sama, he needs medical attention!" Szayel cried.

Aizen quickly ran over followed by Gin and Tousen whom was very quite. The students all stayed quite as the espadas also went for their teammates aid. Grimmjow's eyes only widened as he saw all the blood pouring from Nnoitra's eye, turning around towards the white demon a chill went down his spine.

The rumors were true: The horse was a silky and shimmering white which could rival Kyōka Suigetsu, it's beautiful long white hair gave it the mystical appearance of a unicorn. The silk like threads danced in the air like clouds and it's tail was twice the length of a normal horses tail.

Black cuffs surrounded it's feet very similar towards draft horse with a more Arabian like slender body, strangely two black line-like stripes stretching vertically across the horses eyes like some sort of scary mask and a black halo caressing it's throat.

However it's greatest traits were it's horrifying eyes. His eyes consist of black pupils, gold irises, and black scleras. Watching Grimmjow with those horrifying eyes, it let out another echoing cry before finally settling down from the drugs.

"What the hell is this demon?" Grimmjow finally muttered beneath his breath.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Yelled an angry tall and lean built man.

"So I got a dumb ass job working in the stables so what?" The carrot top argued as he stormed through the house with the dark haired man trailing behind him.

"Don't think I don't know what your trying to pull, I didn't take you in just to loose you like the others!" The man argued.

"Kugo Leave me alone!" Ichigo yelled.

The man grunted before grabbing the 5'9'' teen by his collar and slamming him against the wall startling him.

"Your parents are dead, your sister is dead, your other sister may not make it and none of your relatives are willing to take care of you like I am. I am not about to let you go kill yourself!" Kugo yelled.

Brown eyes for a brief moment stared at him before looking towards the floor. Thunder crashed outside, but there wasn't a word spoken from the two of them. The clock struck twelve and a loud bong went off, echoing off the walls.

"I want to race..." Ichigo said blankly causing Kugo's grip to only tighten. "If I race I can fix all the damage I have done..."

"You know you can't bring back the dead..." Kugo said releasing his collar.

"But I can clear our family name, I can earn more money to help Yuzu... it was mom's dreams to get our name out there..." Ichigo whispered only receiving a loud crash for a response.

Kugo had punched the wall with such force that it had cracked.

"I don't give a rats ass what you think it could do, you did enough damage as it is. The only thing you could do is make it worse for yourself; you'll only end up killing yourself!" He yelled causing lightning to strike.

"But Kugo!" Ichigo yelled back almost begging to be herd out.

"No! As long as your under this roof and my authority, you will never race!" Kugo roared loudly causing the boy to back off and run up the stares.

Once there was a sound of the door opening and closing, Kugo finally sighed as he sat down on the couch; a picture frame was in front with Masaki, the woman he loved most but was married to another. His scowl almost instantly disappeared as he watched her pretty face.

"Don't worry Masaki, I'll protect your boy... I won't let no harm come to him..." he whispered talking to the picture frame.

Upstairs, the young teen had his back pressed tightly against the door; his chocolate brown eyes shimmering from the tears that threatened to come, his face was flushed and yet he refused to shed a tear as he slowly walked towards a bed.

Yuzu lied in the bed wearing multiple bandages and a medical mask, many different cords stuck into her small frame and dangled to the side. Gazing upon her sister, the ginger fell onto his knees cupping her hand.

"Don't worry... just a little longer... I'll save you..." he whispered to his unconscious sister.

"... Ichi-nee..." she mumbled in her sleep...


	2. Rodeo

Gun shot's shot through the air and the rodeo was packed, people laughed and people played around eating cotton candy, turkey legs candied popcorn and all other crazy sorts of junk food. There were all types of games like balloon toss, Money wheel, darts and other silly stuff; however, the most important stuff was the events!

Tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing, and saddle bronc riding. The events are divided into two basic categories: the rough stock events and the timed events which was a free for all whom want to participate minus the steer wrestling. Only a particular set of people were able to do that in order to prevent animal cruelty.

People were all cheering and clapping as the tie-down roping started, Ichigo ignored the event as he was taking care of the animals in the stall; he didn't like rodeo's, having a love for animals he thought rodeos only meant animal cruelty.

Cleaning the stalls, one of the little lambs rubbed against his leg causing the ginger to slightly smile as he petted the sweet animal. The crowed went wild behind him and Ichigo slightly rolled his eyes.

"six point one seconds a new record for Ulquiorra Schiffer!" Called Nanao a very known host whom normally was on the weather channel, but had obviously asked to be the host for the rodeo.

The ginger ignored the intercom as he continued to clean; besides the cheering, the stalls were quite.

"Bahh..." the little lamb called out as she slowly crept away.

Ichigo almost instantly stopped what he was doing to follow after it. The lamb wasn't really fast, however it was determined to get as far away as possible.

"Where do you think your going?" asked Ichigo playfully.

The snow white sheep baa'd before being cornered near a dark stall.

"Got ya." Ichigo said as he got near the stall.

Just as he was about to pick up the lamb, the stall was slammed causing the boy to fall back in shock from the loud boom. It sounded as if a wild animal was in there, the sounds of loud watering grunting and snorting came from the stall.

Ichigo stared at it for a brief moment before he was grabbed from behind; gasping, Tousen practically dragged the boy out of the room.

"Wretched child... stay away from things that don't belong to your job!" he demanded placing Ichigo on a side and giving him a pitch fork. "Feed the animals, stable boy!"

Ichigo slightly irritated, snatched the pitchfork as he gave the man a dirty look; rubbing his arm, it felt a bit numb from the blind man's grasp. Tousen instantly grunted before walking back towards his high stool right next to Aizen and Ichimaru.

The teen just got here recently and he already disliked the three, watching a tad annoyed he could see so many people already gambling from above. The teen sighed when he felt a nervous tap on his shoulders.

"Excuse me young lad, would you mind telling me where the bathroom is?" asked an unknown voice.

A tall lean-built man with light skin, pallid blonde hair and gray eyes was face to face with him; he wore a traditional cowboys outfit complete with a strange striped bucket hat which made him stuck out a bit. Ichigo frowned at the weirdo and just pointed without saying a word.

"Oh thank you my grand lad and might I say you have the most dashing ginger hair I have ever seen, it almost reminds me of young Kurosaki-..." the man was about to finish when he was quickly cut off.

"The bathroom is over there... Enjoy the rodeo..." Ichigo said bluntly as he turned to leave the strange man.

The man's expressions were confused as a dark shadow framed his eyes, a woman walked over holding an umbrella and wearing a saloon like outfit; she was dark with long purple hair and gold eyes. On her left side was a taller man dressed as an wild west bar tender, with dark hair and a large handlebar mustache.

"Is that him?" the woman asked curiously.

The pallid blonde man, grinned wildly before taking her hand.

"It is my lady... all these years of waiting is about to be payed off..." he commented before walking past with the lady on his right and the taller man on his left.

* * *

Kicking some dirt, Ichigo practically blocked out most of the rodeo's events as he did his job; a teen whom had been watching Ichigo for quite some time finally got the nerve to toss his can right in front of him. Ichigo looked at the can and then at the teen as his friends were laughing.

"Go on, pick it up stable boy." Said one of the guys.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the group laughed, putting down his pitch fork; the boy swiftly kicked the can up in the air and into one of the guys face. The teen almost instantly hit the floor causing the group to all gasp in shock.

"You!" Ichigo said strongly. "Pick it up." he demanded causing the guy to grunt in anger.

"Why you little!" the guy said as he charged only to get his face kicked in as well.

"Wrong answer!" Ichigo said before looking at the last guy. "Are you going to pick it up?" he asked about ready to break his face in.

The last guy smiled in fear as he nodded and quickly disposed of the can causing Ichigo to grunt; seeing these jack asses he could only imagine what the other guy had went through. Turning his attention back to his work, he suddenly realized that the steer wrestling was going on.

"...Competitor number fourteen, sexy number six of the horse racers and five time champion of steer wrestling." Nanao said causing a load of fan girls to squeal out with glee. Ichigo didn't quite get the name of the guy, however something about the girls screaming drew his attention to look at the stadium.

Chocolate eyes widened as his face almost automatically flushed as bright as a strawberry; his heart almost instantly began to pound like drums in his chest and his stomach began to twist in knot's and do summersaults simultaneously.

Gasping at the sight, he stared at the messy blue locks, those strong baby blue eyes with teal outlines and those mouth watering abs which showed through the tight sexy cowboy like outfit. Cursing himself for not hearing sexy-number six's name, he slightly paused as he saw the guy look back at him with a smirk.

Grimmjow was smirking at the crowed, he loved being a woman killer and yet within the midst of screams there was this one exotic ginger that stuck out of it; large chocolate brown eyes and soft features stared back at him making him feel a bit queasy inside.

Giving the anonymous fan a toothy grin; the gun was fired and as soon as it started it was over in a mere two point three seconds causing the crowed to go wild seeing as though he had actually defeated not only his fathers score, but as well as the second highest score in the world record books.

The crowed went wild and Grimmjow stood proudly as he scanned for the ginger; eyes slowly falling on the slender figure, he found that his fan had a disapproved scowl. The teen almost angrily turned his face away causing Grimmjow to cock an eyebrow, before turning as well.

Aizen soon stood up and the crowed went quite.

"Thank you all for coming... as you all know my espadas have been going on for years. I always have my top ten and now my number two Baraggan Louisenbairn is finally retiring leaving number two and empty lot. In order to fill that lot, we will have a challenge open to the public, Ladies and gentleman of all ages, cheif, nun's, you name it are all invited to take the challenge." Aizen said causing the crowed to go wild.

A few espada's eyes narrowed, an outsider joining the espadas did not sound like a good idea even if Aizen was fine with it. A constant banging sound filled the arena causing people in the audience to slightly holler in fear.

"The challenge is very similar to bull riding... however the rider will not be riding a bull, instead he will be riding a more dangerous and feared beast he's about 15.2 hands weighing about a thousand pounds with all the power and strength of a bull with the speed of thunder... I bring to you, The White Demon!" Aizen yelled as the gates were swung open.

The wild horse almost instantly charged in and slammed it's body into the rail scaring hundreds of fans as others cheered; the horse whined as dark smoke emerged from it's breath. Devil-like eyes scanned the arena before it gave an echoing grunt of annoyance before kicking the wall and making a dent in it shocking the crowed.

Ichigo stared in shock at the strange beast like horse, it was horrifying indeed but radiant and powerful; it reminded him so much of zangetsu, similar halo and cuffs just opposite in color. The horse seemed to pause as it looked straight at Ichigo, it's vortex like eyes seeming to suck the boy in as it almost gave like a wicked grin.

"Whom ever can stay the longest on the horse will become the Barragan successor and to make things even more interesting; if they are able to stay longer than five minutes they will also keep the horse!" Aizen said causing Gin to slightly frown as the crowed went wild.

Aizen was pretty smart, however Gin knew that not even Yammy their champion bull rider could last even two minutes on the beast, which was no where near five minutes.

The horse actually cocked an eyebrow at Aizen, interesting enough it was as if he knew what was going on; being pulled by his heavy chain, the wild animal was led to his cage where riders were going to be boarding.

Renji was the first to get on, feeling rather confident; he held on tightly as he smiled at Rukia. Rukia giggled as her older brother watched unfazed; the gate was let loose and the wild horse launched the red head six feet into the air and into the ground within two point five seconds causing the crowed to go wild.

The horse attempted to trample, however being grabbed by the chain Renji was left to escape as the demon was dragged right back to his cage. Grunting in annoyance, the horse glared as championship Yammy sat on it's back. The man was heavy, however the horse showed no weakness.

The gate snapped open and yet again, the horse was off kicking as if Yammy was as light as a feather; Gin opened his eyes as he watched the beast kick around with the same effort he used on Renji; Renji was almost 500lbs less than Yammy which made the beast strength quite questioning.

"Amused?" asked Aizen.

"More so impressed..." Gin said as Yammy was actually kicked off and over the rail after a minute and thirty-two seconds. "Well that was a thirty second difference in estimation..." Gin commented as the champ didn't even last two minutes

As the contestants went on, more espadas joined; Szayel slid off in the start, Aaroniero was thrown onto the bleachers, Zommari got off before he was slammed into the wall and Grimmjow was tossed onto his ass after one minute and forty-seven seconds.

Rubbing his buttocks, he grinned at his score.

"Looks like I'm about ta move ta number two..." he said towards Yammy whom just grunted.

"Tsk, yeah right the horse is just tired out from all the running it's been doing." Yammy defended pretty pissed off as the horse was trotting with the same ferocity and energy from the beginning.

"That horse is nuts..." Szayel said fixing up his now messy hair.

"Ha, ha you sucked... didn't even last a second." Grimmjow said still laughing at Szayels horrible first attempt.

"Well, at least I tried unlike Nnoitra..." Szayel said pointing back at the tall slender man whom was now wearing an eyepatch.

"Yeah, yeah..." Grimmjow muttered when suddenly his attention fell back onto the ginger.

Ichigo swayed like an angel as he came down the last step holding a bucket of water at the side of his waist as his other hand dangled freely.

"Who's that?" Szayel asked smirking as he saw Grimmjows expression.

"I have no idea, but she's cute." Grimmjow said watching as the ginger freely poured water into the beasts bowl.

Watching the tight jeans from the rear view, Grimmjow slightly smirked.

"Why don't you try to talk to her?" Szayel asked as Grimmjow looked at him oddly. "Or are you afraid?"

"I'm not afraid of anything..." he shot back angrily before walking in front.

Approaching the exotic looking teen, he cleared his throat feeling more nervous than when he was riding the white demon. The ginger didn't seem to notice him and so he cleared his throat even louder before walking and bumping into Ichigo a bit.

Ichigo gasped before looking back curiously.

"Oh excuse me, I didn't see you there..." Grimmjow lied exaggeratedly.

The ginger looked at him for a brief moment before turning defiantly.

"Of course... so then you just happened to pass by the lower area by coincidence than." Ichigo said in a rather strong yet soothing voice which made Grimmjow shiver.

Grimmjow grinned showing off his teeth; despite the bad attitude he somehow found it rather attractive.

"I'm Grimmjow-"

"I'm none of your business." the boy cut off sternly.

"Anti-social?" Grimmjow asked pushing his luck.

"Anti- steer wrestlers... Mr. six times champ" Ichigo said point blank making Grimmjow look at him curiously.

"Heh, so that's why you turned after looking at me with googoo eyes." Grimmjow stated flatly causing the teen to blush.

"I never did shit ya asshole." Ichigo shot back as Grimmjow cackled.

"Your too uptight, you need to calm down a bit gingy." Grimmjow said getting a bit closer.

"And you need to take your dick and shove it down your throat!" Ichigo said coldly when all of a sudden Nnoitra and Szayel came over.

"Who's the pansy?" Nnoitra asked as he saw the two arguing.

Grimmjow looked at Nnoitra for a while before he suddenly realized that this chick was a dude; feeling a bit dumb for hitting on a guy, he just looked at Szayel whom was giggling playfully.

"None of your business giraffe, why don't you go back to the zoo where you belong?" Ichigo shot back causing Szayel to go from giggling to laughing out loud.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the pink haired clown, but said nothing of it as the dark haired one eyed man slowly bend down to his level.

"You got a mouth, I give you that. But you know messing with someone a head taller than you isn't very smart princess." Nnoitra said a bit hostile.

"Alright, alright. I was just teasing him, now lets just drop it." Grimmjow said a bit out of character, but feeling the need to support the teen.

"I don't need your defense." Ichigo said aggressively. "Why don't you go jump off a cliff!"

"My-my what have we here..." said another man with long blonde hair and pink eyes.

Szayel stopped laughing and his express looked pretty heavy as his brother walked in with his buddies.

"Ylfordt..." he muttered.

Ichigo just watched the blonde not knowing who he was.

"Ichigo Kurosaki... The boy responsible for the Horse racing tragedy, you should have died in a ditch years ago..." he said coldly causing Grimmjows eyes to widen as Szayel's mouth dropped.

Nnoitra was shocked and now speechless as he backed off allowing Ylfordt to get closer as Ichigo's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Fuck you." he snapped

"Amusing really..." he said before smiling at his own brother whom Grimmjow stood protectively in front of.

"I don't give a shit who any of you are, but if it's a challenge you want: I'll take you all on!" Ichigo said cracking his knuckles.

"Now, now, this is not how things are supposed to be solved." said a familiar voice from behind.

The group all turned towards the strange bucket hat man, his grey eyes had some spark in it as he looked at the group.

"Each and everyone of you, minus the two boys had entered the competition. I believe who ever can stay longer on the horse should be the winner of the war instead of fist fighting and risk all of you being suspended." he said calmly.

Ichigo slightly froze, he hadn't rode a horse ever since his mother died and yet here he was given the opportunity to ride a wild one?

"Sounds interesting enough, unless your a pussy?" Edrad said to Ichigo.

"Fuck this, I ain't taking tha damn Challenge." Nnoitra said as he walked away.

Grimmjow frowned, after last night Nnoitra seemed pretty resistant to even be near that horse. Ichigo sighed angrily and then paused, as he looked at the hatted man; if he stayed at least two minutes than he could become the Barragan's successor... he would need a horse, but than again he needed to stay on for at least five minutes.

The ginger slowly looked back at the stadium as the wild horse stormed back and forth; people were coming out with bruises and injuries, many of them were almost trampled on. Kugo would be more than pissed, well that is if he knew...

"I accept..." Ichigo said sternly.

"What, you can't be serious?" Grimmjow said almost sounding a bit worried. "I bet you don't know the first thing about bull riding, this thing is five times worse than any bull!" Grimmjow said as he followed the ginger towards the check in.

"Leave me alone." Ichigo snapped stubbornly. "I'm sign'n up." he said towards Nel whom only frowned and Grimmjow and slightly smiled at Ichigo.

"It's your lucky day, your our last contestant... now that will be a fifty dollar fee." she said.

"Put it on my paycheck, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki Aizen's new stable boy." he said snatching his number as she just stared at him in awe from the name she had just heard.

Attaching the number towards his arm, Grimmjow finally stopped him.

"Hey, kid this isn't a game. That demon is going to rip you to shreds, even Szayel almost got killed and he's Aizen's number eight." Grimmjow tried reasoning.

"So what, cause I'm a stable boy I can't try or is it cause I'm responsible for the tragedy?" Ichigo asked.

"I never said that, would you just listen!?" Grimmjow yelled.

"As for our last contestant, number thirty-three is... you won't believe it folks, standing a 5'9'' and weighing 55 kg is the famous Ichigo Kurosaki." said the intercom causing the crowed to go silent.

Ichigo looked at the crowed and sighed before looking at Grimmjow.

"Just... stay out of it..." Ichigo said before walking past him.

Grimmjow just stood there as not one person in the crowed made a sound; Grimmjow knew about the event very well, however to put the blame on an accident was just plane dumb especially since it's not like he got some special prize or title.

Ichigo stood at his position and the people all began to whisper among themselves; Aizen watched curiously before looking at Gin whom only grinned wider.

"Oh how interesting, the stable boy wants to be a rider..." Gin commented as Tousen cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm going to kill him." he mumbled when Aizen waved it off.

"Shush now, this is becoming rather amusing now that Kurosaki has finally showed his face in public." he commented.

A tomato was suddenly thrown hitting the side of the ginger as another food was thrown, the crowed began to boo and moan as more food was thrown at the young teen. The hatted man stayed quite as he watched from a distance, Aizen said nothing as confetti and junk was tossed at the boy.

Ichigo was partially filthily now and yet he still stood his ground; no one came to help him get settled and so he went on ahead. The crowed was becoming more wild causing Grimmjow to loose his patience.

"Can it!" he growled causing the crowed to stop in their tracks.

Ichigo even stopped to look at the blunet; Grimmjow grunted before looking back at him, the two locked eyes before Grimmjow gave him a toothy grin. Whiping his face from the whip cream Ichigo slightly blushed as Findorr and Tesra both helped him get settled in.

Ichigo was so caught up in what Grimmjow had done for him, that he hardly noticed Tesra unlock the chain. Looking back at the stadium, Ichigo took in a deep breath before tangling his wrist within the rope. He felt oddly sick as the monster beneath him began to squirm dangerously, the crowed was still quiet as the gate was slowly removed.

"Please let me win..." Ichigo begged to whom ever would listen.

This was everything he needed to help out Yuzu, as a rider he'd make five times more money than as a stable boy; also he could clear his family name and earn the respect back, however it was much more easier said than done.

The gate was suddenly opened and as soon as the horse stepped onto the arena, the chain snapped...


End file.
